Three weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, the number of Puerto Ricans who’ve applied for jobless benefits has actually declined sharply instead of surging as expected.

How come? A widespread lack of electricity and damaged roads that limit travel. Puerto Ricans unable to work at their jobs either have no means to file their claims or the island’s government is unable to process them.

At the end of September, the U.S. government recorded just 328 new applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. territory. By contrast, initial jobless claims totaled 2,416 in the week before Maria slammed into Puerto Rico. That’s a 96% decline.

And claims appear to have fall even further in early October.

A U.S. Labor Department official said claims from the island were just starting to flow in and that some applications were being processed on the mainland. So look for jobless claims in Puerto Rico to shoot higher later in October.

Those storms briefly prevented millions of people from getting to work, although only a fraction of them filed for benefits. The situation in basically bankrupt Puerto Rico, though less populous, is more dire and sure to last a lot longer than that in Texas and Florida.

…We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!